Posted on 05/10/2007 7:29:07 AM PDT by doug from upland
Embassy
France
4101 Reservoir Road, NW, Washington DC 20007
Telephone: (202) 944-6000
Fax: (202) 944-6072
E-mail: info@amb-wash.fr
URL: http://www.info-france-usa.org/
A few minutes ago I called the French embassy in Washington to congratulate them on their recent election. When a woman answered, I told her I wanted to leave a comment about their recent election.
They connected me to Frederick. I told Frederick congratulations for the recent election of Nicholas Sarkozy. I look forward to our countries being better friends again, and "Just as we had to stand shoulder to shoulder in WW II to defeat the Nazis, we have to stand together today to fight the Islamofascists."
"I agree," said Frederick. He seemed genuinely pleased to get a positive phone call and was especially happy when I said "I will be drinking French wine again, my friend."
I encourage you to make your own call. It may be a new era of cooperation, since they will have a new leader who seems to understand the problem. Let's hope it's not too late to save his country.
Good idea!
I can only hope that we elect a pro-American leader in 2008.
Britain’s Blair says he is resigning
Associated Press ^ | 5-9-07 | By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writer
Posted on 05/10/2007 7:37:20 AM PDT by RWB Patriot
TRIMDON, England - Tony Blair said Thursday he would step down as prime minister on June 27, closing a decade of power in which he fostered peace in Northern Ireland and followed the United States to a war in Iraq that cost him much of his popularity.
In a somber farewell, Blair made way for Treasury chief Gordon Brown to take the top post. The British leader looked overcome with emotion, struggling to retain his trademark broad grin as loud cheers rang out.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, it was right, Blair said, to “stand shoulder to shoulder with our oldest ally, and I did so out of belief.”
“Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right,” Blair told party workers and supporters at Trimdon Labour Club in his Sedgefield constituency in northern England. “I may have been wrong, but that’s your call. But believe one thing if nothing else. I did what I thought was right for our country.”
Brown, Blair’s dour partner in reforming the Labour Party and a sometimes impatient rival in government, was expected to easily win election as the party’s new leader and become the next prime minister. Brown has never criticized Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq and has given no indication on how he will steer Britain’s role in the conflict.
Blair, 54, has stopped just short of openly endorsing Brown, a stern Scot who lacks his charisma and common touch.
The two men stuck together during the 2005 election campaign, at one point famously facing the cameras and eating ice cream. The camaraderie sometimes seemed forced, though they rarely disagreed in public on the issues
Re-read before you post, Doug. Using “recent election” three times in a short report is a little silly, don’t you think?
To: krb
Sorry...you are wrong. I was over there in December for a week and stayed in several French homes. Many, many French citizens are just as fed up with the liberal, socialits, marxist, abetting, corrupt governmental policies in their country as we are in ours.
They are voicing those feelings in the vote today and I believe it will make a difference...they sure hope it will.
Those folks I spoke with, who feel this way, still, to this day, hold the United States in high esteem. I hope we give them reason to continue to do so in our own next election cycle, instead of ourselves turnig to the very thing they are now rejecting.
25 posted on 05/06/2007 9:58:33 AM PDT by Jeff Head (Freedom is not free...never has been, never will be (www.dragonsfuryseries.com)) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]
Doug, we found that too, in France. People came up to us on the streets, in Normandy. “Are you Americans? Thank you for what you did for us in WW2.” Some were in tears. I am going to call the Embassy. Thanks for posting that, whoever did.
I tried making the call the last two days, but no one answered. To hear him agree that we must fight the Islamofascists together was encouraging. Maybe some of them actually want to save their nation.
- As a European (I’m Swedish), I’d say this goes for all of Europe, not at least the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
The kind of European Socialism represented by (French Socialist Party leader) Royal and (former German chancellor and German Social Democratic Party leader) Schröder doesn’t have the support of ordinary people anymore. It’s(hopefully) becoming a thing of the past.
However, there is a kind of suspiciousness towards Capitalism in Europe that I, personally, think will take a long time to get rid off.
In the US, people in general admire entrepreneurs and ‘self made men’. To a large extent, the American public views free market Capitalism as a game everyone is free to enter on more or less equal terms (although this competition sure produces losers as well as winners among participators).
In Europe, on the other hand, Capitalism is associated with the ‘ruling elite’ and European animosity towards the ‘ruling elite’ goes deep.
Why?
One basic explanation to this attitude towards the rich/the upper class/the ruling elite is the oppression they exposed ordinary people to during the Feudalistic era. The European system of villeinage/serfdom was hardly a much more humanitarian phenomena than American slavery.
Paradoxically enough, European opposition towards oppression and yearn for freedom has produced BOTH:
- The immensely successful European ‘colony’ that today goes by the name of United States of America
AND
- European Socialism and Communism, which admittedly, is not as successful as the US
However, US Americans often make the mistake of confusing high tax levels and generous welfare systems with typical ‘European’ problems like poor productivity development and slow economic growth.
In fact, evidence exists there are few necessary connections between these two economic factors.
The Scandinavian economies are even stronger than the American one (although Norway is the only part of Scandinavia that boosts a higher GDP/capita by ‘Purchasing Power Parity’ level, in the ‘nominal’ GDP/Capita department Scandinavia is at par with or ahead of the US). The Scandinavian countries are also more ‘Socialist’ than the US and also more ‘Socialist’ than other European nations, if you by ‘Socialism’ mean high taxes and social security.
I claim the reasons to the success of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland in terms of economy are
- Loyal, highly skilled workers
- Capitalist and investment friendliness and low corporate taxes (although income taxes and especially sales taxes aren’t particularly low)
- A tradition of concord and team work between workers, unions, government, universities and corporations
- An awareness of the fact that small nations have to be more effective in the field of international competition than larger ones
- The preservation of Lutheran work ethics (- In contrast to a lot of continental Europeans, few Scandinavians object to working 8 hours a day or more)
- Governments devoted to ‘budget discipline’
The key issues here are Capitalism, competition, mutual trust and a belief in law and order.
Another explanation to Scandinavia’s success is perhaps the fact that Scandinavian Feudalism never was as strong as its continental counterpart.
I appreciate your insights on this thread.
The Statue of Liberty says...SACRE BLEU!
I just bought a case of Chateau Lascombe 2004 Margaux. It’s an early self birthday present. Haven’t spent that much on wine in a while. I didn’t consciously do it because of the French election but am glad at the coincidence. I did it because of the recommendation of Steve Silver, who owns Pearson’s in Washington DC.
“I appreciate your insights on this thread.”
- I likewise appreciate that you posted the article in the first place.
Personally, I think Europe and the US should cooperate more and study each other cultures, economies, history etc.
Furthermore, people all around the world ought to study economics to a larger degree. Not only theoretically, like Marxists do, but empirically as well.
Great idea, Doug. I’m so glad they guy you finally got to speak with was pleased, too.
May 10, 2007 4:45 AM
Break Out the French Wine
By Fred Thompson
The election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency of France has been a serious blow to those who claim that America has earned the undying hatred of Europeans. Oh, to be sure, the French media hates us, but there are a lot of people who say ours does too. Regardless, Sarkozy’s victory has sent shock waves through the world’s media centers.
A French president who openly admires America is an embarrassment to those who view us as the country bumpkin cousins of the sophisticated Europeans. American pundits and politicians who say we should change our foreign policies to win the European popularity contest ought to be feeling a little embarrassed too.
From the beginning, Sarkozy pledged to help heal the ill feelings that have existed between our two countries — especially over Iraq. He outraged French Socialists and journalists by coming to America during his campaign to meet with our president. He has praised America’s dynamism, freedoms and prosperity, and he promises to work for reforms that will make France more like the U.S.
Sarkozy’s victory over anti-American political forces was not just decisive; it was far more of a mandate than our own current congress claims. In his first post-election speech, he went out of his way to say, “I want to call out to our American friends to tell them that they can count on our friendship.”
So what’s happening here? Could it be that we’ve mistaken the French media for the French people? Might the same be true of Germany, where pro-American Angela Merkel beat a critic of the U.S. to become that nation’s leader?
I think that’s part of it, but it also has a lot to do with Iran’s race to get nuclear weapons and missiles capable of striking the heart of Europe. President Ahmadinejad has been regularly threatening European nations that won’t go along with his master plan.
Ahmadinejad’s threats are taken particularly seriously by the French, because there are a lot of people inside France who seem to share his goals. For years, the French have endured terrible intimidation, violence and riots at the hands of people who openly hate their democratic institutions. In the run-up to the presidential election, French voters were plainly threatened with even more bloodshed and destruction if they dared to elect Nicolas Sarkozy. As promised, that violence is now taking place nightly on streets across France.
The refusal by the French people to bow to this political extortion should be recognized and cheered. They have not only sent a message to anti-democratic forces inside and outside their borders, I believe they are telling us something even more important. We are beginning, I think, to see our old friends and allies put aside disagreements and rivalries to do what has to be done. It has been a long road, but the forces of civilization and order are beginning to understand that we are in a global struggle against the forces of death and destruction.
Maybe it’s time to rethink the “boycott France” movement that got so much attention a few years ago. Americans once toasted General Lafayette, and his son George Washington Lafayette. I think this would be a good time to toast Monsieur Sarkozy. And if you’re going to use wine for that toast, make it French wine.
I believe Winston Churchill said it best:
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery".
I encourage you to make your own call.
It's a good start, but more proof is needed before I make any calls or consider France a friend or ally.
I understand. He has made some overtures to us, and for now I think we should reciprocate.
Winston Churchill was a great man!
More Churchill quotes by the way:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Sir_Winston_Churchill/
More Churchill quotes by the way:
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Sir_Winston_Churchill/
Good site, I rather like this one:
He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
Sir Winston Churchill
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